Blood Red Moon
by Sanru
Summary: He couldn’t move his arm, he felt dizzy and sick to his stomach but he refused to stand down. He knew what was at stake and he would eat his own shell before he let Hun get his hands on his little brother. Dedicated to Deana.
1. Chapter 1

Blood Red Moon

_Dedicated to Deana for just being so awesome._

_Looks familiar doesn't it? Wink… Wink_

_And I was able to get this fic done just in time for the harvest moon. According to the Farmer's Almanac, tonight's full moon should be the harvest moon. If you get a chance and live in the northern hemisphere take a look at it, they're really cool looking._

Chapter One

Donatello stared down at the street below idly watching the small specks that were people moving about with their daily lives. It was fairly early for him and his brothers to be out but with winter coming the nights were becoming longer which meant more training as far as Leonardo and Master Splinter were concerned. A small sigh escaped him. Training was good and all but not when Mikey's favorite show from the new fall line up was at eight on Monday nights. He had complained and whined all the way to the surface, trying to annoy Leo to the point that he would let him watch his show before dragging them to the surface for a training run. When Mikey had vanished it hadn't surprised him or Raph but annoyed Leo to the point where Don was a little worried when he went to find Mikey. He had this look on his face that rivaled Raph's face when he was 'annoyed'. Leo had told his remaining two siblings to stay there while he went to retrieve the youngest from whatever fire escape he had perched on to offer him the best view of his show. Mikey could have just taped the show like he had suggested but the youngest had gone on and on about how it would ruin the effect of the seasons opener. Whatever, flashed through Donatello's mind as he stopped trying to understand what his younger brother was talking about.

"What's with the moon, brainiac?" Donatello's thoughts were interrupted by Raphael's deep voice. Looking over at his normally antisocial sibling, he took in his tense and guarded form before looked up at the bright red moon sitting low in the sky looking bigger then ever. Raph was standing with his back to Donatello several paces behind the purple banded turtle. His head was raised as he stared up into the large orangey red orb hanging in the sky. Raph had said and done some very random things in the past but remarking on the color of the moon was a new one on him.

Donatello took a second to look at the moon himself before answering his older brother. "It's called a harvest moon, Raph. The reason it's so large and red has to do with the seasonal tilt of the earth. The warm color of the moon shortly after it rises is an optical illusion, based on the fact that when the moon is low in the sky, you are looking at it through a greater amount of atmospheric particles than when the moon is overhead. The atmosphere scatters the bluish component of moonlight, which is really reflected white light from the sun, but allows the reddish component of the light to travel a straighter path to your eyes. This is why all moons, planets and stars appear to be red when they are low in the sky. Its large appearance is known as a moon illusion and can be seen with any full moon that sits low on the horizon." He walked away from the edge of the building where he had been. As he came alongside his brother he sighed. In a voice barely above a whisper he said, "It really is quite fascinating."

Raph had to restrain himself from shaking his head. Donatello could be such a geek sometimes that it amazed him that the genius wasn't always holed up in his lab working on new ideas and inventions. A small voice in the back of his head whispered to him that he had asked for it and he stoically ignored that voice. He knew his little brother well enough to realize that Don was probably come up with new idea or experiments as they both just stood there staring at the moon. He could practically hear the gears turning in his head. Raphael rolled his eyes. It was amazing that the genius even came outside sometimes. He was about to open his mouth to tell Don not to think so hard when something in the back of his mind screamed at him to move.

Raph suddenly shoved the smaller turtle who was still staring up at the moon without a care in the world knocking him off to the side. Donatello let out a startled 'Hey!' has he stumbled a few feet trying to catch his balance. Raph had leapt off to the side seconds after knocking Don out of the path of danger. He was just in time as several surikens hit the ground slightly behind where they had been standing. Had then still been there when the surikens hit, the two turtles would have found the chest, necks and upper arms peppered with the small throwing stars.

'Why the shell did there have to be an ambush now?' Donatello though to himself as he drew his bo staff from over his shoulder. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as Raphael tore his sais from his belt spinning them several times around his fingers before gripping the hilts tightly. Show off, Donatello thought as he watched ten Foot ninjas land on roof in front of them. It surprised him that ten Foot ninjas would attack the two of them like this. Usually ten ninjas were hardly a match for one turtle, two turtles would be able to clean them up in no time, but ywt they still attacked? Donatello frowned. He had a very bad feeling about this.

Raphael didn't hang back thinking of such thoughts. He was a turtle all about action and right now there was some serious action waiting for him on the other side of the roof. There were times he felt like he lived for the fight and right now was no except. The Foot ninjas barely had time to draw their weapons before he pounced on them. In a way he felt insulted that there were only ten. Compared to some of the other fights he had been in, ten ninjas were a piece of cake.

A growl rose in his throat as he blocked and incoming sword with one sia and punch the foolish ninja in the stomach with the pommel, dropping him like a sack of potatoes. He spun away from the fallen ninja and dropped low, avoiding the blade that had been coming in at the back of his head, before raising up and delivering a powerful kick to the ninja's chest sending him flying backwards and off the roof. Raph heard the rattling as the fire escape caught the ninja and winced. He had been kicked off onto a fire escape like that before and he had a shell to absorb part of the impact. He hated to think about what that would have felt like without it.

Flipping his sais around so that he was holding the hilts and caught two katanas in each sai between the prongs. A quick twist of his wrists pinched the blades between the sais' baton and tsuba. The Foot ninjas tried to pull their blades free which and failed. While they rallied themselves to try again, Raph suddenly threw the blades from their trapped position away from him towards the sides of his body. The ninjas found themselves whirled around by the sudden momentum, blinking in surprise at the rooftop that had been behind them. They didn't get a chance to try and turn back around to face the red banded turtle again. Raph slammed the knuckles of his sais into the back of the ninjas heads, knocking them both out.

He turned to face a fifth ninja and noticed that over his shoulder Donatello was finishing off the last of his own goons. He smiled and gestured for the finally ninja to attack him with a 'come here' gesture with his finger. He could practically see the ninja sneer at him before launching his attack. Block, dodge, duck, Raph couldn't help but smirk as his opponents attack became more furious and uncontrolled. He loved playing games with these guys. Realizing that Don had just taken down his last ninja he decided that playtime was over. Catching and trapping the blade with both of his sais, he pushed both sais towards each other before flicking his wrist outwards. Despite the strong grip on his blade the ninja found himself easily disarmed ad looking at a pair of empty hands as his blade skidded across the rooftop. He didn't get a chance to do much more before a powerful snap kick to his jaw sent him spinning and stumbling dazedly.

"Incoming Don." Donatello turned from the last goon he had felled to see another stumbling towards him holding his head. He could just tell by his voice that Raph had set this goon up for him. He ducked low, letting his bo take out the unfortunate ninjas legs. While the ninja fell forward, he rose up, spinning and performing a small jump before slamming his bo across the ninja's back who was still in mid fall. The ninja hit the roof with a sickening 'thunk' yet Donatello paid little attention to the now out of commission ninja or his counter parts. There was something really strange about all this.

"That was easy," Raph said spinning his sais a few times before tucking them back into his belt. He walked over to his brother who was standing there with a thoughtful expression on his face. Raph had to shake his head. "Can you stop thinking for one minute? It's not going to kill you, y'know."

Don ignored him, "Did this attack seem a little off to you?"

Raphael felt in an abnormally good mood. He loved the feeling of the adrenaline running through his veins after a good, yet quick, fight. "Anyone who can take orders from a small, slimy, tentacled shell for brains like Shredder is a little off his rocker."

Donatello blinked and looked at the smirk on Raph's face. Raphael had to be in a good mood to be making remarks like that. "That's not what I meant," he said turning to his sibling. He kept his bo clenched in his fingers and he saw Raph take a quick glance at it. "Why would ten Foot ninjas just randomly attack the two of us like that? If it was one of us it would make a little more sense but two?" He fingered his chin as he thought and mumbled, "There has to be a reason why."

Raph shrugged. He honestly didn't care. A fight was a fight as far as he was concerned. "Ya worry too much. They probably just wanted their shells handed to them."

Donatello's eyes flickered over his shoulder for a second before doing a double take. Raphael notice the surprise in the brown eyes and quickly turned drawing his sais again. "Or they were just buying their friends sometime to get here." Donatello's voice rang in his ears as he turned to find another group of ninjas landing silently on the rooftop behind him. A smirk built on his face. "Good," he said spinning his sais. "I was just getting warmed up."

"Raph," Donatello hissed. "We need to fall back and warn Mikey and Leo. Are position has most likely been radioed in, this place is going to be swarming with ninjas."

Raphael gritted his teeth. Donatello did have a point but retreating just wasn't his style. "In a second," he said before charging the ninjas in front of him with a growl.

"Raph!" Don yelled as his older brother charged headfirst into the group of the ninjas. He sighed, he should have known Raph was going to do something like that. "Hothead," he mumbled under his breath as he flipped his bo over the back of his hand a few time and caught it just in time to ram a ninja in the stomach knocking the wind out of him. Seven of the ninjas had gone around his brother to engage him. Their odds were still overly good but the bad feeling building in his stomach just wouldn't go away. They had to leave and the sooner the better but he wasn't just about to leave his brother behind. Even if he was acting like a pig headed idiot.

Raph turned towards his last four ninjas. Was it just him or were these goons going down even easier then normal? He dodge a blade and slammed his fist into the ninjas mask face. He really didn't even need his sais for these guys. He caught a blade in the sai he had kept in his right hand and kicked him hard the chest. Spinning low with the momentum of the kick he smiled when the ninja jumped over his outstretched leg. He stopped he kick by putting his weight on his hands and flipping his other leg up. The ninja couldn't dodge as he was kicked in the jaw, stomach and then jaw again. Raphael did a front flip out of his handstand and tackled the remaining ninja as soon as his feet touched the ground again. He made sure that his shell caught the man in the solar plexus knocking the wind out of him enough so that he didn't have time to try and protect his head which cracked off the roof. Smiling as he picked himself off of his opponent, Raphael tucked away his sai. Now he was ready to go. He was turning back to tell Donatello it was time they went just in time to see his brother knock down his six ninja and the seventh ninja come up on his blind side and nearly break his bo staff over the side of his little brother's head.

"DONNIE!" he roared as he drew both sais and charge into the fight. As he charged, the ninja pulled a tanto from his belt with an obvious and very deadly intention. Like shell, Raphael thought to himself as he leapt the last few feet and caught the tanto before it had even descended past the ninjas shoulder from its high downward swing. He growled at the ninja who hissed out a word in Japanese that he didn't know the real meaning off but knew enough to know that the man had just swore. Deciding he would really give the man a reason to swear, Raphael pulled his sais apart quickly snapping the blade of the tanto and stabbing the man deep in the shoulder with his sai. The man cried out and collapsed at his feet. Raphael was going to finish him off when he caught sight of a shadow jumping on a rooftop several blocks away. He didn't get a good look at it but he knew that it wasn't Leo or Mikey.

Putting both his sais away, Raphael reached down and grabbed his dazed sibling by his shell pulling him into a sitting position and pulling him backwards to a maintenance shed sitting off to the side of the roof. There he leaned Don back against the wall and fear clenched at his gut when he noticed how Don's eyes seemed blank and unfocused. Gritting his teeth, he holds his brothers head still and looks over the gash on the side. A few centimeters lower and the Foot ninja would have nailed him in the temple. He could have killed Don. "Donnie? Can ya hear me? Say something, bro," he tries to ignore the shaky sound in his voice but can't.

"Raph?" The weak, distant voice pulled at his heart. It was obvious that Don was trying to focus but couldn't.

_This is all my fault_, Raph thought as he pulled his mask off. "Take it easy, Donnie. It's going to be alright." He had to slow down the bleeding. Head wounds, even minor ones, bleed like crazy and this was anything but a minor wound. Balling the fabric up he pressed it hard against the wound, wincing as Donatello hissed at the pain caused by the sudden contact. "It's okay Don. Take it easy. I gotta do this."

Noise caught his attention and he looked off to the side. "Crud," he should have agreed with Don and left before now. That would have been the better choice after all. There was no way he would be able to carry Don to safety and there was no chance of him leaving Don behind. He took Don's limp hand in his own and pressed it over the fabric. _"_Keep holding that to your head Donnie. I have to deal with a few somethings and then I'll be right back."

He caught the scared look on Donatello's face. "Raph…" the fear was even in his lack luster voice as he tried to sit up against the wall as if to stand.

Shhh," he gently hushed his brother. "I'm not going that far from ya. I'll be close. I'll skin any of those shellheads alive if they get within twenty feet from ya." He stood up drawing both his sais._ "_Just relax. I gotcha back Donnie." He turned and took a few steps away from his brother before bringing up his sias in a defensive stance. He wasn't that worried about the thirty or so ninjas standing on the rooftop in front of him with their weapons drawn. They were going to be a piece of cake compared to the real threat.

Raphael gritted his teeth as Hun gave him a chilling grin.


	2. Chapter 2

Blood Red Moon

_Sorry it took so long. I went back and fix the grammar mistakes in chapter one (I think I got them all) and I have three big writing projects on my plate, college classes and work so cut me some slack. And yes this is one of Don's memories from the story _Picking Up the Pieces_. I actually have plans in my future writing for all of the memories in that story. _

_A quick note about Donnie's face plant, if you notice on the 2k3 episodes' fight a scene, every time Donnie goes down it's almost always from an attack on his blind side and, oddly enough, Raph is usually the very first if not a very close second on the scene… interesting._

_Also, just incase you don't know what they are, a kusarigama is one of those sickles (also called a kama) connected to a weight with a china that at least one Foot ninja seems to have at every fight during the 2k3 series of the ninja turtles, especially during the first season. A __manrikigusaris is what the Nightwatcher uses in the CGI movie (the two weights on the either end of the chain) but I think that was a modified version because they're usually only four to six feet long. _

Chapter Two

Raphael liked it when the odds were stacked against him. The more bad guys there were the better and longer the fight it would be. He loved fighting. As far as he was concerned it was his job as a ninja to fight and protect those who could protect themselves. He was a defender. He was an avenger. He was a vigilante. Whatever he called himself he was still Raphael, God's cure all or whatever it was that Don said his name meant. That single thought of his younger brother caused Raph to grit his teeth in anger.

No one hurt one of his brother's without answering to him.

Especially one of his younger brothers.

A growl worked its way out of his throat and he mentally laughed inside as the Foot ninja directly in front of him hesitated slightly at the noise, leaving himself wide open. Raphael took full advantage of his distraction, drilling the knuckle of his sia hard enough into his stomach that the ninja actually flew backwards and landed on two of his comrades. He ducked before he saw the ninjas body land, twisting off to the side at the same time to dodge both the blades aimed at his head. He started to fall back onto his shell. Quickly the terrapin jumped and swung his legs over his head. His back flip was perfect especially since he used the chest of another ninja to help him leap forward again towards the two ninjas who had just tried to stab him. A knee to the gut and a punch in the face of the other ninja was all it took to knock them out of the fight.

Raphael twisted away from his former adversaries and pounced on two others coming in from the side. He pounded their heads together as they fell backwards while he was partially sitting on their chests. Just before they hit, Raphael flipped off of them and put a little extra force into his jump, slamming both the helpless ninjas even harder onto the ground then before. He easily landed on his feet and quickly side stepped a bo staff while catching a katana with his sias. Pinching the blade between his sias, Raphael threw the sword across the roof. He smirked as the ninja went with his blade.

Raph's victories were shorted lived, especially when he realized how far he was from Donatello. Without hesitating a second more, Raph round house kicked three ninjas away from himself to give him some room. Then he went into a series of back flips using his knuckles instead of the palm of his hands. At least this way he didn't have to worry about dropping or losing his weapons even though it took more effort on his part to flip himself over again. The muscles in his arms protested the movements but it was more than worth it in his book.

He preformed an especially high jump and tucked himself into a ball before landing between several ninjas who were within ten feet of his weakened brother. The ninjas barely had a moment to realize they were in trouble before and angry Raphael leapt at them. Sais were drilled deep into unprotected stomachs sending the ninjas up into the air. Raphael barely acknowledged them as they were thrown over his shoulders from his follow through. The two sickening cracks that came from behind him told him that those two would be no problem to anyone anymore. Even as he thought this, the blade of his right foot was catching a ninja right below his jaw, separating and cracking bones, in a perfect side kick.

He turned back around, rolling with the momentum of the kick, facing his little brother for a brief moment to make sure that he was still unscathed. Raphael let out a sigh of relief. Donatello was still were he had left him, leaning back against the shed wall partially cloaked in shadows. He was still holding Raphael's bandana to the side of his head but from that distance Raph couldn't tell how hard he was pressing against the wound to slow the blood flow. His chin was now resting on his chest and if it was for the gentle rise and fall of it, Raph would have feared he was more seriously hurt then he had originally thought. Still, Donatello was safe and that was all that mattered to Raphael at the moment. Now he just had to knock out all the Foot ninja and somehow keep Hun away from Don. A tough job but someone had to do it and he knew he was more then capable of doing it.

He suddenly threw his fist back over his shoulder and struck a ninja trying to sneak up on him. Growling in anger, Raphael turned and leveled a glare on the remaining ninjas that should have sent them running except for their boss standing right there. Between the turtle and Hun the ninjas knew that fighting the turtle would be a lot less painful then fleeing the fight and having to answer to Hun later. Readying their weapons, the ninjas stood at ready watching as the dark green turtle slowly began to walk past the bodies of their comrades and head straight for them in an eerie silence. One ninja noticed that the turtle seemed to slap his right foot down onto the roof harder then it had been and that was the last thing he thought of as Raphael leapt forward off his right foot and slammed his shoulder and his sia simultaneously into the ninjas face and stomach.

Raphael turned to the remain ninjas, catching a blade in his sais before promptly kicking its owner away from himself. He leaned to the side, avoiding the weighted end of a kusarigama as it came at his head. Catching the chained of the weapon in his sai, he jerked it forcibly pulling the weapon out of the ninja's hand. Sliding his sai away Raphael quickly caught the kama end in his hand and held the sickle lightly as he put away his other sai and grabbed the chained end of weapon. The ninja realized that he was now defenseless and briefly hoped that the turtle before him didn't know how to use the weapon he know had. The sinister smirk that spread across Raphael's face dashed his feeble hope.

While not his weapon of choice, Raphael had always preferred fighting with a kusarigama or a manrikigusaris when he was unable to get a sai. Something about the chain whipping by his head, strike those around him had always appealed to him. The chain could also be used to capture enemies and drag them closer to him, a plus to him as he was trying to keep them away from his little brother. Rotating his wrist quickly, the weighted end of the chain began to easily spin next to him. He watched as the ninjas still in front of him tensed and his smirk only grew.

Jerking his arm across his body the weighted chain flew out in front of him in a wide arc striking two ninjas before they were able to jump back out of the way like their comrades. They chain whirled over his head before Raphael suddenly brought his arm down. The heavy weight stopped its circular trajectory and swung downwards and forward. One ninja was unable to get out of the way in time and the weight struck him directly in the sternum with a crack. While the chain lashed out, Raphael took several steps and jumped into the air. He flipped over and landed on the shoulders of another ninja who wasn't suspecting the move. He felt bones shift and crack beneath his feet as he full weight slammed forcibly onto the ninjas shoulders. He flipped off the ninja and preformed a flying kick to another ninja as the chain whipped behind him.

As Raphael brought the chain around in front of him he felt like there was something missing. The feeling of impeding doom began to worm its way into his stomach but he couldn't figure out why. Like Donatello had said earlier, the fight was almost too easy. It was like ninja preschool had been let out for a field trip. He caught a katana with the kama, flinging it to the side before kneeing a ninja in the stomach. Definitely too easy. He was missing something, something vitally important.

Taking a second, Raphael glanced over at his brother to make sure he was alright. He was still in the same position as the last time he checked. It seemed that the remaining foot ninjas were more worried about him and his new weapon then to even think about going after his brother. Angered, he realized that in their desperation to beat him, the Foot might attempt to use Donatello as a hostage against him. He growled, it just meant he had to take out the rest of the Foot ninjas sooner rather then later.

Turning back to the remaining Foot ninjas, Raphael let out a bellow of rage and charged them. The kama was gripped tightly in his hand and the chain was little more then a blur as he whipped it around in a circle. The ninjas were startled. They had suspected the turtle to remain away from them. The kusarigama was a ranged weapon not a close combat weapon. One ninja noticed that the red masked turtle let go of the chain for a second, allowing it to wrap around his forearm several times making the weighted end of the chain shorter and protecting his forearm with a barrier of wrapped chain. Wanting nothing more then to please his master and give his fellow ninja a better understanding of how the turtle planned to fight with the weapon as such, he charged forward bring his sword around to try and catch the charging maniac off guard. His blow was easily blocked with the kama and then his head was whipped back at an unnatural angle as the weighted end of the chain was brought up much like a nunchaku and caught him in the chin.

Raphael launched himself into the middle of the pack before they had a chance to ready themselves anymore for his assault. The kama striking steel and the weight flaying into an unprotected side. He spun quickly kicking two ninjas before a third caught his outstretched leg. The ninja didn't have a chance to try and use the leg to his advantage in anyway because Raphael jumped up and spun his opposite leg over the trapped one, catching the ninja in the head. He landed wrong. One knee ended up being slammed onto the rooftop while he somehow managed to get his foot underneath him. Several ninjas launched themselves forward to try and pin him down with their combined weight. Letting out several lengths of the chain, Raph quickly whipped it around him in a great arc. Not ready for the weapon to suddenly grow in length the ninjas about to land on him were all knocked away as the weight crashed into their heads. The momentum of the swing helped Raphael to gain his feet again as he let the chain rewind around his forearm.

He dodged a blade and struck the ninja in the back of the head with the butt of the kama. His breaths were coming out in harsh gasps. He had used all his energy and speed in the battle but with only two more ninjas to go Raphael wasn't in the least bit worried. This was going to be easy. The first ninja charged him, blade raised high and letting out a battle cry that made Raphael perk and eye ridge. All he could think of was you got to be kidding me as the ninja charged him. He patiently waited until the ninja was in range before sending him a snap kick that sent the ninja into a perfect and uncontrolled back flip as his sword landed with a clatter next to his limp body. Raph didn't give the other ninja a chance to react throwing the weight forward and letting the chain unravel from his arm, it struck the man in the face making Raphael glad that they wore masks so he wouldn't have to look at the caved in face later when he carried Don out of there.

Still as he stood there trying to get his breath under control, he had the terrible feeling he was forgetting something. He turned his head and looked to where Don was. He was still safe. Rapheal let out a sigh. Donatello hadn't been hurt or even touched in this most recent fight. Now all Raph had to do was get him somewhere safe and look over his head again. Reaching into his belt with his free hand he pulled forth his shell cell. He smiled slightly in amusement. He should have called for back up long before this but he had been to preoccupied keeping the Foot and Hun away from Donatello.

HUN!

Raphael cursed his stupidity as he turned towards the heavy footsteps fast approaching him. How could he have forgotten about Hun? He was just an entire land mass of muscle that had been standing on the opposite side of the roof during the whole fight. He was kind of hard to miss. Raphael was in mid-turn when Hun slammed into him with the force of a semi traveling at interstate highway speeds. The kenetic energy from the hit passed into Raphael's body and he went flying backwards. He barely had a second to realize he could be sent off the edge of the roof with that hit before his shell slammed into the shed Donatello had been resting against this entire time. He could hear the bricks crack and shatter as he hit before he was sliding down the wall to land in a heap on the roof's surface.

Hun's booming laugh echoed in his ears, reminding Raphael that he couldn't just pass out no matter how much he wanted to at the moment. He struggled to move as a voice that sounded like Michelangelo's whispered in his head, "I love being a turtle." If he hadn't been a turtle, Raphael knew he would have had a broken spine and more serious injuries from the hit. As it was his stomach was threatening to send the pizza he had eaten for dinner back up and his head felt like someone had taken a baseball bat to it. What was even worst was something was wrong with one of his arms. It had been trapped between his body and Hun's shoulder and just the slightest movement from it sent pain screaming through out his body. Most likely his arm was broken.

Hun's laughter slowly fell away. "This is going to be too easy," he taunted as he cracked the knuckles of one massive hand in the other. "Two turtles gone with barely a sweat." Raphael was able to gain his feet, swaying for a moment as if he was drunk before he was able to get his balance back. His arm complained loudly that he should do something to secure it but judging on how Hun was heading his way Raphael didn't think he was going to have time to do anything about it. "Of course, you could run while you still can turtle and leave your brother.

Anger made Raphael narrow his eyes and with a low growl he flung the kusarigama with his good arm at Hun. Hun frowned as he easily dodged the flying weapon with a frown. It was obvious that the turtle still had some fight left in him. Raphael pulled out a sai with his good arm and spun it in his fingers a few times before taking up the closest thing to a defensive stance as he could manage with only one arm. Now he was starting to understand Hun's tactic. Wear him down with ninjas who, while not very good fighters alone, could easily wear out a turtle with their shear numbers. Even if he wasn't tired or hurt, a fight one on one with Hun was nearly impossible to walk away from. Leo had been the only one to ever manage it but even he had to run away from Hun on more then one occasion.

Seeing Hun getting ready to charge him Raphael gripped his sai even harder and gritted his teeth. He had to hold out against Hun until Leo and Mikey showed up. Of course he had to drop his shell cell when he was first hit. It was the turtle luck working true to form. This mess was all his fault. If he had only listened to Donatello neither of them would be in this shape. He couldn't move his arm, he felt dizzy and sick to his stomach but he refused to stand down. He knew what was at stake and he would eat his own shell before he let Hun get his hands on his little brother. With identical roars of rage, the two combatants charged each other knowing full well that only one would be standing at the end of the fight and who that one was most likely going to be.


	3. Chapter 3

Blood Red Moon

_Hey, look, I updated this story too. Am I on a roll or what?_

_Heh…I love cliffies… and don't worry, there's plenty of 'whumpage' for all _Durithyll… _but not all of it's reserved for Donnie._

Chapter Three

He knew he would go down fighting one day but Raphael was kind of hoping that he could live more of his life before then. He had no idea what possibilities he could've come across in his old age. Maybe he could have actually found a girl and had kids. A family of his own would be a nice thing to have, it would also be a freaking miracle to find a girl who could look past his appearance and see what was inside. He'd also been hoping to travel before he died. To see some more of the world other then the city he had been born and raised in. He had always wanted to travel to Italy and see some of his namesake's paintings first hand. Raphael didn't know much about the painter Raphael Sanzio but he still felt a need to see what he had done and acknowledge him for inspiring Master Splinter to name one of his sons after him.

That made him think of his family and he wondered what they would do. He knew they would mourn. He only hoped that they would be able to move past his death and continue being a family. He hoped Leo wouldn't blame himself (like he knew he would anyways) and protect the rest of the family as viciously as Raphael had in the past. Raph knew that was a given, if anything he was a little worried that Leo would smother the rest of the family by being to overprotective. He was worried that Mikey would never laugh again. The youngest had always been the comic relief even in the darkest of times but the lost of an actual brother made Raphael worry that the youngest wouldn't be able to laugh this one off. He was worried that his father's heart wouldn't be able to take the strain of burying one of his sons and Raphael hoped that his brothers would be able to band together and keep him from leaving them before his time. Out of his family there was one he worried about the most. He knew Donatello wouldn't take the fact that he had died to protect him very well. Raphael hoped that someone would be able to keep him from falling into despair, from withdrawing completely into a realm of science and math, and remember that it had been Raphael's fault that they had landed in this mess to begin with. Raphael didn't want anyone in his family to hate him but if it was the only way Donatello wouldn't blame himself for this then Raphael wanted Don to hate him more then anything in the world.

Well, except maybe Hun.

He knew that every one of his friends and family hated Hun.

But that hate would be even worst after Hun had killed him.

A pained gasped escaped his lips as he twisted quickly, dodging a ham sized fist that had been rushing at his head. Raphael felt the roof shake and crack under his feet as the Hun's punch left a decent sized crater in the concrete roof. The sudden movement reminded him of his assortment of injuries he had received in the brief fight he had been in with Hun so far. Not that it had been that much of a fight, more like a lucky hit and several wild swings from Hun that had Raphael dancing around his larger opponent trying not to get squashed by failing limbs.

Raphael lashed out using the knuckle of his sai to strike a pressure point in Hun's thigh. A brief idea of him hobbling the behemoth and then carrying Don to safety entered his mind but was quickly vanquished when he saw the muscles in the leg flex as if ignoring the strike all together. He gritted his teeth in anger. It was going to take more then that to stop Hun. Before he had a chance to strike the same pressure point again to see if hitting it twice would hobble the giant man, Hun spun around towards him swing his whole arm in an attempt to clothesline the mutant.

There was no way to avoid that strike and Raph knew it. One more hit like he had when Hun broadsided him would knock him out, especially if the hit reignited the pain in his arm. It had dulled down considerably thanks to adrenaline but the wrong move sent pain tingling through it reminding him just how painful it could be if it wanted to. He brought his good arm up to block the attack and keep the brunt of the hit away from his injured arm and stomach. He could ill afford to have the wind knock out of him in a fight with Hun. Less then a second before the actually strike, Raphael leapt into the air. He still took the brunt of the impact but with his feet no longer on the ground it was like Hun was swatting at a bug rather then a mutant turtle.

Hun sent the dark green terrapin sailing through the air like he had just thrown a football rather then swinging at a mutant. Raphael twisted in midair, doing a complete back flip in mid air before landing on the rooftop. The kinetic energy of the hit caused him to skid backwards and for a panicked moment he thought he was going to fall off the roof, regardless of the small retaining wall that ran around the level surface. Flipping his sai around, he dug the baton into the roof, causing a horrendous noise from the metal tearing into the concrete, before finally coming to a stop. He stood up growling low in his throat as he took an offensive stance before Hun ready for more.

"HA!" Hun said as he turned to face the turtle. "Looks like this is going to be a little more exciting then I though." He cracked his knuckle as he looked over his opponent. "However, I doubt it would last much longer." He smirked when he saw the turtle grit his teeth and narrow his eyes. This turtle was so predictable in Hun's mind. The madder he became the easier it was to beat him. He also had one big weakness that –when exploited- would make him so mad that one well placed tap would send him over on his shell. The smirk on his face grew into a full out grin as he turned away from him.

"The other turtle should provide better sport than you."

Raphael eyes went wide at the threat and his body stiffened in surprise. It took his stunned mind a few moments to realize that Hun was currently between him and his brother and that he was heading towards the shed where Don was propped up against the wall. Then it was like someone kicked his mind and with a primal roar of rage he charged Hun, intending to strike his opponent from behind no matter what Master Splinter said about fighting with honor. His fingers and weapon were little more then a blur as he charged Hun with his sai spinning. He wished he could use his other fist to delivery the butt whooping that Hun deserved but Raphael was confident that he could make do with only one fist. It was just take a little longer.

Hun smiled as he heard the cry of rage from behind him. He couldn't hear any foot steps but he knew that the mutant freaks were silent enough that he didn't expect to hear any. He counted to five, turning and swinging at the same time. He caught a quick glimpse of the turtle's surprised face before his fist connected solidly with his chin and sent him flying backwards. He watched s the turtle bounced several times then slid until his head connected solidly with the edge of the building. He smiled. The turtle seemed dazed as it shook its head weakly and tried to sit up, failing. Hun started to walk towards Raphael, only pausing long enough to pick up one of the many katanas littering the rooftop.

His head hurt, throbbing with each beat of his heart which was speeding along at a good clip. Raphael moaned and tried to sit up. He was in the middle of a fight, the worst possible time to ever be knocked out. What was worst was his brother had been taken down with a similar blow and now both of them were defenseless. Gritting his teeth, Raphael forced himself to sit up. It was a slow process but he made it. For a moment he just sat there shaking his head back and forth. He wished he had his shell cell still but the likelihood of him finding it on the roof was next to impossible. With a sigh he opened his eyes and began to blink them trying to realign his sense of balance. He had to keep going –to keep fighting- if only to buy Donatello a few more minutes for Leonardo and Michelangelo to show the shell up. Where were those two anyways? Raphael hoped they hadn't been ambushed too.

Suddenly a loud noise caught his attention and he turned towards it, squinting in an attempt to see better. He couldn't make out what the large blob was that was fasting approaching him but with Hun on the roof he didn't want to find out. Gathering his feet under him, Raphael jumped to the side, rolling forward and stumbling to his feet. He heard something hit where he had just been and the sound of cracking and crumbling concrete reached his ears. The roof underneath him seemed to tilt and he had a crazy impression of that part of the roof crumbling away. He scrambled –practically on all fours- away from that part of the roof and while he did hear part of it land in the alley below he was to busy to actually get a good look.

He had barely made it to his feet when something in the back of his mind clicked. Mikey called it their 'sixth sense' while Don gave a long winded explanation how it was probably the animal part of their minds warning them of danger. To Raph it made no difference. All he knew was when he felt it he ducked and that sixth sense was something he owed his life to many times. He ducked down, stepping backwards as a blade swept along the back of his head close enough that it would have cut off his mask if he hadn't used it as an improvised compress for the side of Donnie's head.

Hun was annoyed to say the least. Even only half there, the turtle had been able to avoid the large ventilation fan he had ripped off the roof and had somehow managed to dodge his blade. He took another swing and yelled when the turtle easily ducked of to the side. "Hold still!" His frustration was mounting and Hun forced himself to take a mental step back. This was in the plan. Wear down a turtle down with shear numbers then show the freak's brothers once and for all not to mess with the Foot. The added bonus of the injured turtle over by the shed would just be brownie points with the Shredder for him.

As Raphael rolled across the roof and came up to feet only to nearly fall over while dodging the katana again. He needed to get a few minutes to focus and realign his mind but Hun wasn't giving it to him. The constant dodging was making his head spin. It made him wonder if he was really dodging or just stumbling trying to get his feet under him and having Hun miss him by shear luck rather then talent. He realized that at some point he had dropped his sai and absently wondered if there was a chance of him finding it or if it would be forever gone like his shell cell. He wished he was going to stumble over the phone at some point. That would be an added bonus right about then.

Raphael felt a growl work its way out of his throat. His anger was the fastest and best way to deal with Hun, even when he wasn't half knocked for a loop. Now he was going to have to relay on it to keep him from getting his shell waxed. He knew how far his adrenaline could take him in a fight and the rush it gave him was beyond words. He had heard about adrenaline junkies and he had only recently admitted to himself that he was one. At least it explained all the crazy things he did, it was all just a way to help him obtain the natural high that was adrenaline.

He tore his other sai from his belt as he turned to face his opponent with a cry of rage. Hun blinked. He hadn't expected the turtle to recover so quickly from the blow to his head. He should have been next to unconscious like the other one was. Bringing his sword around, Hun deflected the sai and received a boot to the head for his troubles. He forgot how fast Raphael could move when he was mad and his aching jaw was to proof of that.

Letting out his own cry of rage Hun took several swings at the turtle in front of him. Raph dodge right, bent backwards, rolled off to the left and then jumped back, barely avoiding the deadly blade each time. Hun's last swing lodge the katana into the rooftop and Raphael took his opening, leaping up and drilling him in the face with the knuckle of his sai. Hun grunted as the hit was hard enough to cause the skin to split and blood to ooze from the crack in his cheek. He stepped backwards as he rolled with the strike and pain flared along his arm as the finely sharpened tip of a sai easily cut through his flesh.

If his cry of rage had been loud before this time it was massive, bouncing off the buildings nearby as an echo and causing several pedestrians on the streets far below to look up in wonder. As the cry of denial washed over him, Raphael felt his eyes slide shut. He was so tired, all he wanted to do now was pound Hun into the tarmac, gather up Donnie and go home where he planned on sleeping for the next week. He forced his eyes to snap open, he hadn't beaten Hun yet. All his attacks would have just made him angrier.

That second of unawareness cost him dearly. Hun brought the blade around, intent on cutting the turtle in half, only to have to settle for slicing into his thigh as Raph tried to jump out of the way. He gasped but the rest of the air was forced out of his body as Hun punched him hard in the gut. Raphael felt detached from the situation like he was watching a movie about his life then actually living it. He barely felt when he impacted with the rooftop several times, rolling over and over again limply. It was only when he was laying flat on his shell that his sense came back to him and the first thing that he realized was that his injured arm hurt even worst then it had before. Every breath made pain flare along the appendage. What was worst was his arm had slipped out of his belt at some point during his roll and failing it around had obviously magnified the injury.

Despite the pain he forced himself to his knees clutching his injured arm protectively to his stomach. Raphael wasn't looking forward to tucking the injury away in his belt again. The mere though of it made pain dance up his arm darkening his vision around the edges. Of course the darkening vision could be from the injuries he had so far received in this fight but he wasn't sure. Everything kept fading in and out of focus that he was starting to become dizzy. He could clearly see Hun coming towards him, sword drawn and with murder written on his face. Raphael tried to get to his feet to keep fighting but his right leg refused to support his weight, buckling when he leaned on it. He didn't want to take his eyes off Hun but a quick glance revealed what he had feared. The cut on his leg was deep enough to effect muscle movement and he could only hope that he didn't have any form of nerve damage. Judging by his weakened state and Hun who was raising the sword in a killing stroke, nerve damage was the least of his worries. He glared at Hun through narrowed eyes and gritted teeth, if he was going to go out at least he had given Hun a few new scares to remember him by. He watched the sword begin to fall and all he could think of was how Leo needed to show up and do his whole knight in shining armor routine.

"NO!!" Raphael barely had time to register the frightened scream before something hit him, knocking him down out of his semi standing kneel. He heard the blade cut deep into flesh and a gasp as the flesh's owner felt the pain. Then he was hitting the roof, rolling with whoever had saved him a few feet before the momentum of the tackle wore out of their bodies. Whoever had saved him was on top of him, forcing an already exhausted Raph down onto the rooftop. What was worst was that Raphael's uninjured arm was pinned down underneath his body and he was unable to move it. Growling slightly, Raph struggled but only succeed to cause an olive green and blood streaked arm to flop limply into his vision.

Donatello!

His strength was gone. He couldn't lift Donatello off him and the blood that was pooling around his face was beginning to worry him. Just how badly had Don been hit? He grunted trying once more to get up and failing. Despite his small size, Donatello was just too heavy for his already exhausted strength to lift. The heavy footfalls caused fear to worm its way into his gut. He and Don were both helpless, a feeling that Raphael had ever experience before in his rather short life. As he struggled to get up once more he noticed something that cause panic to dig its claws into his brain.

Donatello's blood was the same vibrant color of red as the moon was.

He gulped in a breath of air to try and calm his racing heart. Desperately Raph tried to come up with a way to get Don off of him so he could try to fight Hun off but came up with nothing. His head was pounding, he really had the need to retch in something – the closer the better- and the overwhelming pain in his arm was doing nothing to help his mood. A growl worked its way out of his throat but it lacked its normal sound. It was thinner, more desperate, than it had ever sounded before.

There was one chance for him to prevent both of them dying immediately. Gritting his teeth to the point where he heard them creaking, Raphael forced his injured arm up so that his palm was resting on the rooftop. The pain was unbelievable. It felt like Hun had stabbed him through the shoulder rather then sliced a gash in his thigh. He took several deep breaths past his teeth as Hun drew ever closer. He waited until Hun was almost on top of him and Donatello before shifting all his weight onto his injured arm and pushing both of them off to the side.

He wasn't sure but Raphael was positive he screamed in pain after he shoved them both out of the way. He heard the blade pierce deep into the rooftop accompanied by Hun's grunt of exertion. As he rolled he wrapped his uninjured arm around Don as best he could, preventing his limbs from flailing around and keep them close as the rolled into the wall of the shed. Somehow during their roll they had ended up going heads over tail inside of on their sides and Raphael found himself propped up against the shed with Donatello sprawled all over his legs and stomach. Raphael found his eyes going from the top of his brother's head to where Hun was. There was no doubt in that maniac's eyes right then, the two of them were finished.

Hun had won the fight.

Raph gripped Donatello tighter. He had failed. He had failed to protect Don. Watching Hun approach, ready for the kill, didn't faze him in the least compared to the failure that he felt. This was all his fault and now Don was going to pay for it. There was no way he could save both of them again. Maybe he could throw Don off to the side right before he was stabbed but then Hun would just turn and kill him too. Shell, that wouldn't work.

He knew he was going to die one day. His reckless actions were proof of that, even if he didn't like to admit it. He had hoped that he would die alone, in a glorious battle to the end, so his brothers would always remember him as a warrior. His final wish had so far been granted with just one minor set back. While he was about to die in the aftermath of a battle and he would definitely be remembered by both his family and his enemies, he wasn't going to die alone.

His grip tightened around Donatello even more as he dipped his head down slightly. Whispering, Raphael said, "Its okay, Donnie. It's going to be okay." He knew Don hadn't heard him but he felt better telling him that it was going to be alright even though he knew it wasn't. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," his voice faintly cracked with emotion. This was all his fault and now Donatello was going to have to share the consequences of his actions.

He leveled a glare on Hun that would've sent a lesser man running in fear. Hun just smiled. He knew he had won. Both of the turtles were out of tricks and now he could claim the glory of killing not one, but two of the accursed reptiles. He stalked forward and began to pull the katana back. He would spear them through and present the bloodied sword to his Master with the two mangled bodies still impaled upon it.

He couldn't wait to see the look on his Master's face.


	4. Chapter 4

Blood Red Moon

_Yeah, yeah… kind of an obvious chapter… or is it?_

_MMWHAHWHAHWHAHWHAHWHAHWHAHHWHHAA!!!!!_

_*hands out lifelines to all who read this*_

Chapter Four

Raphael had heard the expression that involved that brief few second period before you're about to die and know it. The one about life flashing before your eyes right before you die. He had never thought that he would ever be conscious right before he died. He also never expected to be clutched his unconscious brother to him like a life line. The fact that Hun was the one to kill him was the finally icing on the cake. A small part of Raphael was demanding that Shredder come out and fight his own battle but another part of him was glad that the Shredder had stayed away. If Hun had been able to beat him so easily he and Donnie wouldn't even be alive right now if the Shredder had attacked them.

As his mind quickly played through all of his memories from way back when he was barely able to stand on his legs for more then two minutes to the conversation that night at dinner, Raphael finally understood what Donatello had been trying to explain to him after they had once watched a horror movie together. The younger a person was the less they understood their own mortality. They felt that they were invincible and that nothing could take them down off the pedestal of self-esteem that they had erected for themselves in their minds. Raphael had always thought of himself as invincible but now Hun had delivered a shattering blow to his pedestal and Raph found himself falling into outright fear as Hun drew the katana back.

Had Donatello been awake he surely would have been complaining that Raphael was crushing him which is exactly what his older brother was doing at that moment. Raphael's mind was on loop, showing him over and over again how he had failed to protect his little brother and now they were both going to die because of it. His mid also had the gall of showing him everything he would miss.

He would miss the pranks Mikey was always pulling on him and then the 'brotherly bonding' moment they would have as soon as Raph caught the prankster. He would miss talking to Casey about things as they both drank a few beers over a football game. He would miss having cocoa with April after a night of busting heads with his brothers. He would miss practicing with his family and listening to his Father and Sensei's voice flowing over the room as he led them through practice. He would miss helping Donatello in the garage and that made him clutch his brother ever closer. What would Donatello miss? Most of all Raphael found himself missing his arguments with Leonardo. Yes, Rapahel felt he was going to miss those most of all. It had something to do with Leonardo's tone of voice, being angry and protective all at the same time. A smile spread across his face as he realized that.

"GET AWAY FROM MY BROTHERS!!!"

It was, after all, one of the sweetest things he had heard all night.

Hun had the most priceless look on his face right before it was filled with a flying green foot. The flying kick was executed perfectly but Raphael expected nothing less the best from his 'perfect' brother even if he was mad. As Hun reeled backwards for the force of the kick on his already aching jaw, Leonardo reached back and grabbed both katanas, drawing them forth with near slight ring. Raphael caught a brief look at Leonardo's face when he did this and realized that Leonardo wasn't mad.

He was enraged.

Hun must've realized that too because when he looked back at Leo there was a brief flash of fear across his face. Leonardo didn't give him much of a change to be afraid after that. Charging forward with his swords held tightly in his hands, a growl that rivaled Raphael's trade mark growl rose in his throat. Since spending several months with the Ancient One and learning how to control his anger, Leonardo had never give into his anger as he did then.

A punch was dodged and he used Hun's arm as a spring board to avoid the sword aimed at his stomach. Leonardo delivered another powerful kick to Hun's jaw and felt a grim sense of satisfaction as he felt the bone underneath his foot buckle. He landed silently, twisting around and slashing two thin slashes on the side of Hun's leg. They were deep and they would hurt but that was the whole point behind Leonardo's attack. No one hurt his brothers as badly as Hun did without receiving a few new scars at least. Leonardo was going to make sure that Hun would understand the meaning of pain that night and never to go after his brothers again.

"RAPH! DON!" Raphael looked away from Leonardo's revenge on Hun to see a pale and scared looking face. Michelangelo came to a skidding halt next to his two older brothers before falling to his knees. He reached out towards them but he couldn't figure out which one needed help more. They were both covered in blood, there was so much of it Mikey was worried that he and Leo had been too late.

"Mikey," the younger turtle flinched. He hadn't even realized that Raphael was awake. "Calm down. Go grab one of those guy's shirts so we can get the blood flow to slow down." Eagerly Mikey nodded his head and scampered off. He was glad that Raphael was awake. There was no telling how much time he would have wasted kneeling there trying to remember everything Donatello had ever told him about blood loss, exposure, and their respected treatments. As he began to tear the shirt off of a Foot ninja with no bloodstains on it, a familiar handle caught his attention. He pulled Raphael's sia out from underneath the body he was kneeling over and used it to help free the shirt.

He was back at Raphael and Donatello's side in moments, Raphael's sai tucked into his belt next to his nunchakus and shirt clutched tightly in his hands. Raphael had shift Donatello around so that he was being cradled to Raphael's chest rather then flopped all over his older brother. Raphael had felt the blood drain from his face when he saw how deep the wound was on his younger brother's arm. From about Donatello's mid bicep up to his collar bone had been sliced open. No wonder he was bleeding so badly. Realizing Mikey was back with something to staunch the blood flow, Raphael forced himself back to saving him brother's life and not examine a wound that was making his stomach churn more and more. "Wrap it around his arm and shoulder as tightly as you can, Mikey."

"What about you?" he asked even as he wrapped the shirt around Donatello's upper arm and shoulder. Noticing the blood oozing from the wound on his head, Mikey tore a sleeve off the former shirt and wrapped it around Don's head. "What hurt's?"

"It's just my arm," Raphael ground out. The adrenaline was beginning to fade and he was beginning to realize exactly how much of a wringer he had put his body through. His arm was screaming at him despite the fact he was keeping it still. His head and ribs were throbbing angrily. Both legs stung as if he had run too far without stretching before hand. His stomach was churning more and more and he had a feeling it wasn't just because of seeing how serious Donatello's shoulder was. Generally it wasn't just his arm that was hurting him but there was little he could do about the other pains his body was telling him. "The blood's all Don's."

"Riiiigghhhtt," Michelangelo said in a sarcastic tone. He could see how it was just his arm judging by the way Raphael's breathing was hitched and his uninjured arm was trembling as it held Donatello closer to him. "And I'm the Shredder. Let-" Mikey was suddenly caught off and the two turtles turned towards the startled cry that came from the other side of the roof.

Leonardo was peering over the edge of the roof at the ground below and Raphael felt himself smirk at that. It was obvious where Hun had gone to considering he was no where on the roof. As the two turtles watched, Leo stepped away from the edge of the roof and started towards them at a fast clip. He paused only long enough to clean off his swords on the back of a Foot ninja's gi before running over to them. He stooped twice in his trek across the rooftop, picking up a small object that neither Raphael or Michelangelo could identify and Raphael's other sai.

"Are you alright?" He asked Raphael when he saw he was awake.

"Peachy," Raphael mumbled trying to ignore the throbbing in his head which was beginning to remind him of that weird techno song Mikey had been listening to several hours before dinner. He saw the look Mikey gave Leo but ignored it. He didn't even know if he could lift his arm high enough to whap Mikey over the back of the head right then.

Leonardo raised an eye ridge but looked over the rough patch job that Mikey gave to Don's shoulder with approval. "Where's your mask?" he asked when he turned back to Raphael. Raphael merely jerked his head towards the shed where Donnie had been. "Go get it," Leo said to Mikey as he took Donatello from Raphael's arm, careful not to jostle his shoulder too much. Mikey vanished in a flurry of movement as Leo gently laid Donatello out next to Raphael. He then stepped over his younger brother and knelt next to Raphael. "Now what hurts and don't even think of saying you're fine."

Raphael gave him a half hearted glare but gave in. The sooner he confessed to being hurt then the sooner Leo would take him home and let him rest. "My arm hurts the most and so does my ribs. Hun landed a few good punches on me."

Leonardo made a thoughtful noise in the back of his throat. From what he could tell Hun had landed more then a few good hits, more like half a dozen. The most serious injury did appear to be Raphael's arm. He could see a lump forming in about the middle of his forearm and judging by the way Raphael was keeping it half curled against his stomach it was beginning to cause him a serious amount of pain.

"Mikey! Grab another shirt!" Leo called over his shoulder to the youngest who was hurrying his way back with Raphael's mask tucked into his belt and tied in a knot to secure it. Hearing Leonardo's call, Mikey stopped and tore another shirt free from a body with the help of Raphael's recovered sai. "Thanks. Hold up his feet." Leonardo instructed Michelangelo as he took the cloth from him. Leo knew it was a slim chance to wake Donatello up but it would be easier to have Don walk out of here on his own power rather then be carried.

As Mikey held Don's feet up in hopes that the increased blood flow to his brain would help to revive him, Leonardo fashioned a simple sling to help support Raphael's arm. It was obvious Raph was starting to really feel the pain his body was telling him about. His teeth were firmly clenched together and Leo hoped that he wouldn't crack any of them from the pressure he was applying to his jaw. There was little he could do for his younger brother's pain right then anyways. Until Raphael was home, safe and cleaned enough to see his dark green skin under all that blood would be the time Leo would even think about giving him a pain reliever. The ever present danger of the Foot was there and considering their bold attack on his brothers, Leonardo was worried that they were on their way back and in greater numbers. "Mikey carry Don? I'll help Raph."

"I don't need help," Raphael ground out as he began to force himself to his feet. He made it but he started to sway almost instantly. A hand taking the wrist on his good arm and an arm wrapping around his waist helped to steady him especially when Leo put his good arm over his own shoulder's and took some of his weight. A part of Raphael wanted to object the treatment but he knew as well as Mikey and Leo did that the minute Leo's support left Raphael would end up sprawled on his face on the floor.

Seeing that Raphael had resigned to being helped home, Leonardo turned his attention to Michelangelo to see how he was fairing with Donatello. Donatello was the smallest and the lightest of the four brothers but he was little more then dead weight right now and would seem heavier then he really was. Both older brothers raised an eye ridge as Mikey stood with Donatello resting piggy back style on his shell. One hand was holding onto the bottom of Donatello's shell while the other was clutching at Don uninjured arm that was draped over Mikey's shoulder. His injured arm was trapped between Mikey's shell and his plastron, keeping it from flopping around and injuring it further. Don's face was resting on the opposite shoulder as his arm and he looked rather peaceful given the current situation. Feeling the stares, Michelangelo shrugged his shoulders. "What? It works," he said in his defense.

Leonardo shook his head. They had more important things to worry about instead of what was the easiest way to carry and unconscious brothers. Someone was bound to notice Hun laying partially conscious in the alley below and the Foot would be here soon to clean up the remains of their warriors. With two injured brothers, Leo didn't want to guess their odds in a fight at that moment. He nodded his head towards the edge of the roof as he got a better grip on Raphael. "Go."

Michelangelo was off like a shot, stooping slightly to help keep Donatello balanced on his shell. He barely paused at the edge of the roof, merely leaping off into space as he had done thousands of times before, easily hurtling the alleyway below as if it was nothing. He grunted as he landed, Don's weight had shifted off to the side and Mikey found himself hitching his brother's weight higher up onto his shell again so he wouldn't slip off. He was so glad that they didn't have to jump to another rooftop. All they had to do now was get off the roof they were on now.

He stood on the opposite side of the roof and took a moment to get a better grip on Donatello before taking the plunge. He land on the railings of the fire escapes that were on opposite sides of the alley and easily bound down to earth. When his feet finally came into contact with the ground he was forced to fall to one knee to prevent from falling over completely. He had never realized just how heavy Donatello was.

"You okay?" Mikey gave Leonardo a wink over his shoulder as he stood up.

"If Donatello would lose another few pounds this would have been much easier." He said as he walked over to a manhole and lifted it without dropping Donatello. He held it up in open invitation to his other two brothers. Leonardo felt Raphael pull away and let him. He had half of an idea what Raphael was up to anyways. Instead of jumping through the manhole as they usually did, Raphael slowly and painfully climbed down the ladder into the relative safety of the sewers. Leonardo went next, climbing down the ladder as well but stopping when he was halfway down. Mikey set the manhole cover off to the side and slung Donatello off his shell handing him down to Leo who cradled him gently with one arm as he climbed down the last few remaining rungs. Michelangelo looked back and forth to make sure no one had seen them and then climbed down the ladder too, taking time to secure the lid once again.

He jumped off the rung he had been standing on and landed with a soft splash in the tunnel below. Leo was standing off to the side holding Donatello gently but past him off to Mikey who began to heavy Donatello back up onto his shell. "I'm going to call April and have her meet us at the lair with more medical stuff." Michelangelo said as he reached for his cell phone in his belt. Leonardo just nodded and turned to his current larger then shell problem.

Raphael was leaning heavily against the wall and his good hand was wrapped around a rung of the ladder with a white knuckled grip. Leonardo was worried that Raphael was going to end up fainting before they even got halfway to the lair. Leonardo knew that he could carry Raphael if he had to but to carry Raphael almost a mile would be a real strain on his lower back despite the reinforcement that his shell provided. The fact that Raphael was still conscious was the real problem. There was no way Raphael's pride would let Leonardo carry him if he was awake and knew about it. "Are you going to be aright?" he asked as he came to stand next to him.

It took Raphael a moment to respond and even then it was only a glare that Leonardo had been expecting anyways. He heaved a sigh. "Don't get all exasperated with me," Raphael said in all seriousness despite the faint hint of amusement in his eyes. "I can still pound you the sparring mats."

"You can try," came the response as Leonardo pried Raphael's fingers from the ladder. He helped Raphael take a step forward and settled him along his side. Raphael's good hand was clenched almost as tightly as his jaw and Leonardo began rubbing it, pressing against the nerves and tendons forcing the hand to relax under his ministrations. As he continued to make Raphael's pain a little easier to handle, Leonardo turned towards Mikey only to feel his eye twitch in annoyance.

"-peppers, Donnie loves those so make sure there's a lot of them, and make them put as much meat on there as possible. The more protein they get the bet-"

"MICHELANGELO!"

"Oops, gotta go. Yeah, we'll see you there April. Thanks again." With a flick of his fingers Mikey closed the phone and tucked it away in his belt before turning towards two annoyed brothers. "What?" he said in his defense. "Donnie and Raph are bound to be hungry later and the extra meat will do them good."

"Did you ask her to bring down more medical supplies or did you just call asking for a pizza?" Leonardo asked annoyed but rather humored by his little brother's antics. He could tell that Raphael was having a hard time not laughing unless his shoulders were beginning to jerk in pain but Leo dismissed that when he noticed Raphael lightly shaking his head. How Mikey could take a serious situation and turn it into a hilarious one he had no idea.

"Yeah, she and Case are going to meet us at home with some stuff and I didn't ask for a pizza. I asked for two."

That got a snort of amusement out of Raphael and caused Leonardo to roll his eyes. _Only Mikey_, Leo reminded himself as he nodded with his head to head off down the tunnel. "Get going." Mikey and Donatello went first with Leo and Raph following along behind them.

Raphael was rather scared at what happened next. He could not remember that run through the sewers. It was like everything faded out and when he came back to his senses Leonardo was walking him into their home. Raph glance over his shoulder at the large door that was sealing behind them. Had he blacked out but somehow kept moving? "Are you feeling alright?" Raph looked back at his older brother who was scrutinizing him carefully.

"Yeah," Raph said looking away to the commotion they were heading towards. The living room had been transformed into a make shift medical treatment center and Mikey had just laid patient number one out on the couch. Master Splinter and April were already going over Donatello while Casey ran around in circles gathering what the two 'doctors' were asking for and bring the requested items over. It was chaos in Raphael's personal opinion but the fact that it was Donatello receiving the help instead of him for once made bile briefly rise in the back of his throat. He went to pull away from Leo but Leo held hi fast intent on taking him to the recliner and sitting him down. "Leo, let me go." His brother looked about ready to object but noticing the green face greener then before he turned swiftly to the bathroom.

Raphael pulled free as soon as they hit the threshold to the room and fell to his knees in front of the toilet where he proceeded to worship the porcelain god with an offering of what was left over from dinner. Leonardo sighed but wet down a washcloth and used it to wipe the sweat off of Raphael's face when he was done but still kneeling in front of the toilet just incase he had more to give. "You guys okay?" Mikey asked peeking into the room. He made a face of disgust when he realized what had happened but a stern look from Leo made him shut up.

"We'll be out in a few minutes," Leo assured him as he slipped an arm underneath Raph's chest to help support him. "How's Donnie?"

"He's going to need a lot of stitches and he has a concussion but other then that he'll be fine." Mickey then jerked his head at Raphael. "Are you going to need a hand getting him out here?"

Raphael sighed in relief when he heard that Donatello was going to be alright but then guilt flooded in and drowned out that fleeting feeling. This had been all his fault. If he had listened to Donatello then neither of them would be hurt or have come so close to dying. With a growl Raphael stood up despite Leonardo's advice to take it easy and turned towards the shower. He wanted Donatello's blood off himself now! All it was to him was a reminder of how close he had come to failing. He swatted away Leo's support and took a step towards the shower while jerking the sling off his arm despite the twinge of pain it caused. "I'm taking a shower," he growled, daring either of his brothers to challenge him with very nasty results.

"We'll be fine," Leo said to Mikey even though his eyes were fixated on Raphael as he climbed into the tub. "I'll call if we need anything."

Mikey understood that Leo wanted to talk with their obviously distressed brother alone and nodded his head even though neither of the older turtles were looking at him. "Holler if you need anything," he said as he left the room and went to see if there was something he could do to help with Donatello.

Raphael turned the faucet on and just let the water flow down on his head and shoulders. He had no intention of talking to Leonardo about what had happened on the rooftop until he was done wallowing in self guilt. A small smirk twitched at the corner of his mouth when he realized what a long wait Leo was in store for. How could he ever let that situation get so out of hand? Had he been paying attention, **not** thinking of such an epic brawl and maybe, just maybe, think about his brother's safety instead of fighting neither of them would be as hurt as they were. He braced himself with his good hand against the wall and stared down at the crimson liquid running off his body and down the drain with listless eyes.

Leo took all this in, waiting patiently for Raphael to say something. It was only after watching him stand under the shower head for about five minutes did Leonardo move forward reaching out and adjusting the spray so that it was warmer then what Raphael had set it at. Leaning back against the sink he folded his arms and waited for Raphael to say or do something that would tell him why his younger brother was beating himself up so much.

The silence was getting to Raphael. Leonardo never waited this to give a lecture or what to know what had happened. It was like he was acting very un-Leoish. With nothing but the sound of running water filling the room and making his muscles relax, Raphael finally broke the silence between them. "I screwed up big time," he immediately bit his tongue as he realized what he had just said. He had to be more tired then he had originally thought to let that one slip.

Leonardo stayed silent for a moment after Raphael had spoken absorbing what he had said and thinking about it. He knew Raph hadn't meant to say what he had said but that little sentence was all Leo needed to start piecing everything together. It was obvious that the fight had turned bad on top of that roof and that for some reason Raphael saw himself as the reason for all of it. That was really all Leo needed to know at that moment. Now he had to find away to get Raphael to see he wasn't the cause of what had happened. "Raph, it wasn't your fault."

Raphael growled and slammed a fist against the wall. He lacked the usual power that he had and therefore didn't crack the tiles and most of the bones in his hand. "He wanted to leave," his voice sounded strange to his own ears. It was dim. Weak. Nothing like he usually sounded like. He rested his forehead against the cold tiles knowing that no matter how much he wanted to pound it off the wall Leonardo would stop him from doing it enough to feel the pain that he deserved. "Don wanted to go but I made him stay. It was my fault. It was all my fault."

Leonardo frowned as he narrowed his eyes at Raph. While he had wanted him to tell him what had happened, Leo hadn't expected Raphael to sound so distant and lost. His little brother suddenly looked older then their sensei at that moment as he leaned against the wall with his eyes closed. Leo pushed himself away from the sink and came to stand next to the open shower. He reached out and rested a hand on a damp shoulder. "Don't blame yourself Raph. Accidents hap-"

"IT WAS NO ACCIDENT!" Raphael suddenly bellowed causing he shot to echo around the tiny room they were in. "It was a trap, Leo! A frigg'n trap that I fell right into and Donnie read all along. He knew that there would be more coming. He knew that it was an ambush. But did I listen to him?" He snorted at himself in disgust and shook his head, sending water droplet everywhere. "And cause I wanted to stay and fight he ended up like that. I should be the one laying out there! Not him! If he had actually died because of me… I'd… I'd…" he blinked realizing that he was staring at his hands as they clenched and unclench on themselves. He sighed and let his hands fall to his sides. "We wouldn't have known what to do if he wasn't here, Leo. Don has all the answers. If anyone should have almost died tonight it should've been me."

He paused then taking several deep breathes after his outburst and stared at the wall before him. "You guys wouldn't even know I was gone," he mumbled thickly into the stream of water coming from the shower head. He just wanted to stand there under the hot water and let it wash away all of his troubles. He blinked his eyes tiredly. He really just wanted to sleep more then anything right now anyways. He shook his head when he realized that Leonardo had been talking to him and he had completely blocked him out.

"…Raphael?"

He blinked, when had the lights grown so dim? Something was wrong. Leo might be standing right next to him but his voice sounded as if he was standing miles away. It was growing dimmer until the only thing he could hear was the worried tone in his older brother's voice. Raphael shook his head as he felt Leo's hands take hold of his body. Was he swaying? As all conscious reason left him he barely thought that he had forgotten something important again.

"Raphael!?" Leo cried as his brother sudden went limp, eyes rolling up into the back of his head, and tipping over backwards as his knees buckled. Despite being the oldest of the four turtles, Leonardo was not the biggest. Raphael held that title. When the larger turtle suddenly fell, Leo found himself unable to hold up his bulk and instead protected Raphael's head as both of them fell. After the sharp jolt from hitting the porcelain tub, Leo scrambled off to the side and looked over his brother. Seeing the deep gash still sluggishly bleeding on his sibling's thigh, Leonardo felt the color drain from his face.

"Kuso…" he whispered. He stared at the injury for a second longer before surging into action. "Michelangelo!" he screamed as he tore off his bandana and wrapped it tightly around Raphael's thigh as a tourniquet. He jumped out of the tub and grabbed a towel just as Mikey came flying into the room. "Help me get him out of the tub," Leo said hurriedly as he wrapped the towel around the wound.

"What happened? I thought he was fine." Mikey took up one of Raphael's arms and on the count of three the two smaller turtles lifted Raph over the edge of the tub and laid him out gently on the bathroom floor.

"His thigh was cut open and he didn't tell us," Leo growled angrily as he pressed the towel over the wound. He was not only mad at Raph for not saying anything but he was mad at himself for not noticing the injury back on the rooftop. At least it explained why Raph had been limping so heavily. "Go get April or Master Splinter." Knowing better then to mess with an angry Leo, the youngest sped away to get help.

Leo turned his eyes to his brother's pale face and whispered, "Don't die, Raph. Don't leave us." He could feel the tears begin to build in his eyes as the towel became increasingly wet under his hands despite the help from tourniquet and the pressure on the wound. "We need you just as much as Donnie."


	5. Chapter 5

Blood Red Moon

_This is the last chapter guys, though I did like the idea of everything be well and then having Splinter have a heart attack ( good idea _Brimtayne_) but this story is suppose to be a Raph and Don story even though I threw in a little Raph andLeo and some Leo and Mike comedic relief in the end._

_And mind out of the gutters, people, this is all about brotherly love! __**Not **__turtlecest!_

Chapter Five

His eyes snapped open and Raphael found himself looking at a very familiar ceiling that was bathed in the soft light of a candle. He stared at it for a moment trying to remember what had happened only for his memories to dance away from his concussions. Now that was annoying he decided. He frowned up at the ceiling as he studied it. This wasn't the ceiling in his room. Movement off to his right made him roll his head to the side to see the soft smile of his older brother as he sat in a chair next to the bed. "Hey," Leo said in a soft voice obviously taking in to account Raph's aching head wouldn't like ay overly loud noises at that moment. "How are you feeling?"

There were a million things that wanted to come tumbling out of his mouth. He wanted to know if Donnie was okay. He wanted to see his father. For some odd reason he was worried about Mikey. He wanted to know if Leo had been injured with his fight with Hun. He seriously doubted it considering that Leo half carried back to the lair but he felt bad for not at the very least asking to make sure he was alright. He wanted to know if April had worked Casey to death running about getting her this and that. Instead all that came out of his mouth in a very irritated and sleep filled voice was, "Why the shell am I in your room?"

Raphael was never known to be subtle. He felt bad the minute those harsh words left his mouth and he hoped that Leo wouldn't be to upset at him for saying that. As he watched his brother's face he felt a moment of relief as humor seemed to dance across it as he smiled even wider at him. "A hammock is not the best place to recover from a broken arm and a flayed hip and by the time we got you upstairs Casey and I just wanted to put you down on the nearest available surface."

That comment made Raphael raise an eye ridge at his brother. He knew he was the heaviest out of the four of him but he didn't like to have that always rubbed into his face. Still, considering that just a few short hours ago he had been afraid that he would never hear any of his brothers teasing him again, Raphael decided to let them get at least one free shoot at him but if Mikey pulled out the yo-yo and the bubble gum again that was it. Remembering about the dreaded yo-yo and gum incident made Raphael wonder about his other two brothers and the rest of his family. "Is Donnie going to be alright? Where is everyone?"

"Don's going to be fine. He's going to be out of action for a while but all things considering he got off pretty easy." The Raphael had to snort at. If it hadn't been for him than Don would have never been hurt in the first place, at least he was glad to hear that his screw up hadn't cost his sibling his life or the use of his arm. He didn't even want to think of Don unable to use his arm because of nerve damage that he could have prevented by leaving when Don suggested they fall back. That image was just too painful in his mind eye and his fist clenched the covers covering him as if they were the ones responsible for the fight on the rooftop.

"Everyone else is getting some sleep. You gave us quiet a scare last night." Leonardo watched as the blankets were twisted in his younger brother's grip. It was obvious that Raphael still had more than just a few issue about what had happened the night before but Leo wasn't sure if he was the right one to try and get Raph to tell him his fears.

"Last night? What time is it?" How long had he been asleep? Raph could tell it was late, probably sometime around one or two in the morning but that didn't tell him how many hours he had been unconscious.

"You've been completely unconscious for almost twenty seven hours Raph," Leo said and watched as his brother's eyes widened slightly in surprise. Usually when he was seriously injured Raphael would float in and out of consciousness and the fact he hadn't had worried everyone greatly. The only way they had known Raph was still alright was from his steady yet weak pulse and his shallow and steady breathing which April assured them was what was suppose to be happening. Leonardo couldn't express his thanks to her properly then he had been to busy worrying over his family. He promised himself for what seemed like the thousands time that night that he had to do something special for her.

"Shell," Raph mumbled under his breath. He couldn't have imagined what that had been like for his family. He didn't want to think of all the fear and pain they had gone through while they waited to find out if he was going to make it or not. He let his eyes fall closed and wondered what else he could screw up in the next couple of hours. Judging by his current track record it was going to be something big.

"Raph, what happened on that rooftop?" The question was quiet as if Leo knew he was trending on rocky ground with Raph at that moment. As a deep throated growl echoed from his younger brother's throat he couldn't help but smile slightly. At least Raph was still acting like Raph always did. "Please Raph. I need to know."

Whether he needed to know so he could tell April about how they had gotten hurt or whether Leo wanted to know how much he had to repay the Foot, Raphael wasn't sure. What Raphael was sure about was that he didn't want to have to explain to Leo how he had not only let Don get hurt once because of him but twice. Raphael had always prided himself in his ability to always have his little brother's shells in their time of need but that fact that he had almost let one get killed because of his mistakes was eating him up from the inside out. Openly admitting to Leo how he screwed up was just going to be the icing on the cake as far as he was concerned. "I screwed up."

"I figured that much from what you were saying in the bathroom yesterday Raph. What I want to know is why you think that this was your fault."

"Cause I was the one who wanted to stay," Raphael ground out. The sooner he said this the sooner Leo would stop bugging him about it. "Don thought it was a trap all along and wanted to fall back but he stayed 'cause I didn't want to go. He took a bo over the head and more Foot showed up with Hun." Now he was going to have to admit he really screwed up in a fight against Hun no less. "Hun knocked me down but Don knocked me out of the way of the killing stroke but ended up having his shoulder cut open like that." There, the ugly truth was out and now Raph had to wait for the lecture Leo was surly going to give him.

After not hearing so much as a peep from his older brother, Raphael dared to turn his eyes towards him only to see Leo staring back at him with a rather calm and calculated expression on his face. Raph knew he was thinking about the fight on the roof, trying to find all the times he screwed up so he could point out every single time he screwed up to him. Raphael knew he deserved it. He deserved every harsh word his brother wanted to say to him. "I don't think that this was all your fault, Raph. Don is just as much to blame as you are for this."

Whatever he had been expecting, Raphael hadn't expected that. He opened his mouth to argue with Leo only to find his older brother holding up his hand in silence. Raphael really wanted to tell Leo where he could shove that hand but he knew that when Leo held his hand up instead of telling him to be quiet then whatever he had to say was important. As Leo spoke Raphael just settled for glaring intently at him. "Don knows better than just to tell you to leave a fight. It can take a certain amount of… finesse to make you leave a fight when you are shell-bent on fighting. What he should have done was throw some smoke pellets down to disorient you and the ninjas. Then it would just be a simple matter of pulling you off to the side on making a get away. He also should have been paying more attention during that fight. He knows that he has a blind side and he knows better than to let his guard down on that side. Had Don done either one of those things it wouldn't have lead to your fight with Hun and neither of you would have been injured."

Raphael could see the truth behind Leo's words but he still refused to acknowledge them. It had been his job to protect Don and he had failed. "Leo, it was-"

"Now what I want to know is why you think that we won't miss you if you were gone. **And** why you didn't say anything about that gash on your leg."

The sternness in his brother's voice made him pause and think about what he was going to say. He had honestly forgotten about the sword wound on his leg. His mind had been to preoccupied with getting home so he could rest and that Don need to get home so he could get help that he really needed. "I forgot it was hurt in light of everything else that was happening." He didn't remember saying anything about not being missed and guessed that it had to be when he was almost unconscious or when he had been reeling in the shower. "And we both know that I wouldn't be missed if something happened to me. If anything you guys would be getting along a lot easier without me." He didn't want to admit it but those words cut him to the core as he realized how true they were.

He glanced as his brother's face expecting to see Leo agreeing with him silently only to see Leo look like he was ready to either throttle him or was ready to throw up on the floor but couldn't decided which to do. Suddenly he climbed out of the chair and sat on the edge of the bed next to Raphael's hand. Before Raphael could ask Leo what he was doing, his older brother gathered him up, careful of his injuries and pulled him up and into a tight hug. Out of everything that Raph had been expecting this hadn't been the way he expected his older brother to react. It was the second time Leo had surprise him that night. "You are such a brain dead jerk, Raph." Leo's voice hissed with such venom that Raph wondered if Leo was going to lean back and punch him. His older brother had also surprised him yet again.

"You think we wouldn't notice you were gone? Who would play video games with Mikey for hours on end every day of the week? Who would help Don in the garage when he's giving the Battleshell an overhaul? Who would spare with me when Mikey's watching a movie marathon and Don's locked away in his lab doing who knows what? Who's going to explode at Mikey for a prank he pulled and chase him all over the lair breaking up the normal monotony of the average day? Who's going to issue death threats at Don for going to the junkyard alone again while heading out the doors to catch up to him? Who's going to second guess my every command to make sure I think of every possible outcome and have chosen the best and safest approach? And most importantly, who's going to tell me when I'm acting like a stuck up brat that always gets my way?" Raph couldn't help but snicker softly at that last one. He had said that very line to Leo that morning before the fight on the rooftop. "Raph, no matter what you may think, we would miss you. You're our brother. You're part of this family. I honestly don't think that a minute in a day could go by without us missing you if you really did die."

Leonardo's words brought a sense of comfort and peace to Raphael's mind. He knew that what Leo said was the truth and he had merely needed to be reminded of it and not the one his mind had given him. It was nice to hear out loud how much he was needed and appreciated in his family, especially when their were some nights where he would stay awake all night wondering if he should run away because his family would be happier without him. Usually those dark thoughts came to him after he had been grounded for getting into a particular bad fight with one of his siblings.

Wrapping his good arm around Leo and hugging his older brother back Raphael forced himself to say in a voice clogged with emotions, "I… I…Leo… Thank you…"

The arms around him tightened as he forced himself not to cry on Leo's shoulder, "Anytime you need to hear that again, just ask."

…

…

The red moon hung low over the rooftops, seemingly staining everything a deep red color. His chest burned, his muscle protested the very thought of movement, but his mind continued to scream for action, forcing him to push against his limits. The bodies of his enemies scatter the rooftop around him but there was no sign of the one he was looking for. Just where the shell was he? "DONNIE!" he yelled through out the deathly quiet night.

He bolted across the rooftop he was on, heading for the next. He hurled the bodies of those who had tried to prevent him from finding his brother despite the fact that even in their deaths, the ninjas' bodies seem to try and trip him. He jumped that gap between the buildings and caught the side of the fire escape that led up the side of the taller building. He had to get to the roof. He had to find his little brother. He went up the metal railings, sacrificing his normally silent passage in favor of speed. The metal slammed and groaned under his weight and at times it seemed to buck under him, making him lose his balance momentarily as he tried to ascend. His firm grip kept him from falling to the alley below and he growled low in his throat. No mere piece of metal was going to prevent him from finding his brother. With a roar of defiance he scaled the last thirty feet quickly before leaping up and onto the roof. The sight that greeted him was what he had been expecting. The Foot ninjas came at him, weapons bared, ready to try their hands at defeating him. He gritted his teeth in annoyance, he didn't have time for this, he had to find Don, but if these goons wanted a piece of him they would be sorely disappointed when he took their miserable lives.

He ducked underneath the blade coming at his head and spun around underneath it as he came up behind its own. He slammed the baton of his sai deep into the ninjas back, dragging a strangled gasp from his victim as the pointed blade pierced through his spine and into the vital organs beyond. Tearing the blade free, he swung it in an arc, splattering blood into the faces of several other ninjas charging him. Following through with the momentum of the sai, he swung around, delivering a powerful spin kick to the heads of the ninjas with a series of resounding cracks. He had long since giving up on fighting fair. He had to find his brother.

"Raph!"

The voice was familiar, filled with fear and uncertainty as it echoed across the silent rooftops. "Donnie," Raphael whispered to himself and then louder yelled, "DONNIE!!" He charged forward towards the sound, barely pausing as he caught two ninjas in the stomachs with the knuckle of his sais. He took a valuable second to ensure that neither of them would be rejoining the fight, slamming both his elbows into the center of their backs and feeling the discs of their spines shift and crack unnaturally. He sped forward again, catching a blade with the tsuba on one sai he slashed the ninjas across the throat with his other sai, closing his eyes to prevent the blood that splattered him in the face from blinding him.

"Raphie!"

He stumbled away from the ninja blinking his eyes rapidly to encourage the blood to flow away from them and not into the. He ignored the rest of the ninjas scattered about the rooftop. He had to get to Don. He had to find him. Something was eating at his gut, warning him that his little brother was in serious trouble, and he was the only one who had a chance of helping him. He hurled to the next rooftop over running across it as the Foot ninjas he had left behind gave chase, following him as he ran over the rooftops. His legs hurt, his chest heaved as he ran and the blood on his face was making the landscape appear to be soaked in red. He headed over the rooftops, towards that large blood red moon, towards where he had heard Donnie's voice last, praying that he wasn't to late. Praying that Don was alright but the fear clenching his gut tightly kept telling him over and over again that he was to late to save him.

"Raphael! Wake up!"

A hand grabbed his shoulder jerking him awake at the same time the voice called out to him. He gasped, more asleep than awake, and reached out to grab his assailant. Pin flared in his broken arm but he ignored it as the age old fight or flight command surged through his limbic system. As always, Raph chose fight and fingers dug into the shoulders of his opponent as a growl rose out of his throat in a challenge.

All the fight left him as a pained gasped reached his ears and the hand on his shoulder left to grip his wrist. He blinked up at the figure hovering over him trying to discern who it was that had woke him from his nightmare. As his eyes adjusted to the dim light from the candle they widened in shock when he saw it was a beaten and battered looking Don, kneeling with one knee on his bed and his good arm trying to pull his hand off his injured shoulder. His head was slightly turned away from him and twisted in pain from his ruthless grip on his injured shoulder. Raphael immediately let go, silently yelling at himself for attacking his brother as such.

Before he could pull his hands away from his hurting sibling, Donatello's hand shot out and caught his uninjured arm's hand and pulled it back towards him. Don pulled the unresisting limb up and flipped the palm over before pressing it to the side of his neck. He took a minute to rearrange the limp fingers against his neck so that they pressed against his artery so that Raph could feel the steady throbbing of his pulse. Judging by how he was fighting in his sleep and mumbling his name, Donatello figured that Raph was dreaming about what could have happened on that roof in the worst case scenario. Hopefully feeling the pulse would help calmed down and reassure his panicked brother.

Raphael was breathing deeply staring with wide eyes up at his brother as the sweat ran in small rivulets down his heated skin. The pulse was a steady and comforting feeling under his fingertips, constantly reminding him with each pulse that Donatello was alive. That he hadn't failed to protect him after all and that he was still alive. A little damaged but alive. The steady pressure that grew and than lessened against his forearm was another reminder to him that his brother was alive and breathing as his chest rose and fell.

Raphael blinked and then his eyes began to trace over the injuries on his brother. The shoulder was heavily tapped and no doubt littered with stitches underneath all that gauze holding the skin closed over the gapping wound that had been there. Don's forearm was securely tapped to his stomach to prevent any movement that could aggravate his injured shoulder. A small bandage on his thigh caught Raph's attention, at some point he must've cut it on something but judging by the small size of the bandage the wound was insignificant compared to his other injuries. He head was also securely wrapped with a gauze pad being held firmly against the side of his head over where the bo had broken against it. His check of his brother's injures came to rest when he made eye contact with Don and held it.

They stayed where they were for awhile holding each others gaze as Raph's tortured pants began to calm down. It was only after Don was assured that Raph had calmed completely did he let the hand slid from his neck as he shifted enough to sit on the edge of the bed with his leg folded up under him. Raphael's eyes tracked Don's movements as he sat on the bed next to him with his good hand sitting idly on his stomach. Noticing that Raph's undivided attention was still on him Don smiled at hi older brother. "Nightmare?" he asked his brother even though he didn't wait for the answer. "Do you want to talk about it?" Don could tell by the dark look that passed over Raph's face that talking about it was the last thing he wanted to do right now. Don already had a pretty good guess about the dream and decided just to move on and not dwell on the specifics of it. If Raphael wanted to talk about it he would in his own time and would just stay silent even longer if Don pressed the issue.

They both lapsed into a comfortable silence each one more interested in just watching the other making sure that he was okay. Raph wondered for a moment on where Leo had gone but after half falling asleep on his shoulder, he figured that his older brother had put him to bed to rest. That's probably why Don was in here, Leo asked him to come in so that Raph knew he was alright. Raphael told himself that he owed Leo one because if he had woken up and it hadn't been Donnie sitting with him he would have gone looking for him despite his leg and whoever was in there with him.

As the silence continued, Raphael suddenly reached over and tugged at the blanket that Don was sitting on. With a smile Don shook his head and stood up so that his brother could pull the blanket off to the side and expose the sheets underneath. It didn't surprise him in the least when Raphael shifted over to make more room on the bed and then reached out to grab his wrist to pull him in next to him. Every now and then after a particularly bad nightmare of Raph failing him in a fight, Don would wake to find Raph sprawled out on his covers next to him with a arm thrown over his shell and both sais gripped tightly in his fists. He knew he wasn't the only one to wake in the similar position, both Mikey and Leo had reported finding Raph in bed with them, protecting them in their sleep. Once Leo said he had caught Raph sleeping on the steps leading up to Master Splinters room guarding him. When confronted about his defensive sleeping arrangement, Raphael would get royally mad and storm off. Don was the one who told his family that it was probably from a nightmare that he had where he had failed to protect one of them.

Don lay down on his good side and felt Raph loop his good arm around his shoulder and pull him closer so that Don was fit snuggly along his side. Don rested his head on Raph's shoulder knowing that if Raph could he would be on his side holding him close with both arms. What he didn't expect was for Raph to suddenly say in a quiet voice, "Hey Donnie?"

"Yeah."

"Never go outside during a harvest moon again. I don't care what you have to do, just stay inside."

"Raph, why-"

"Shell Donnie! Just promise me!" he snapped.

Confused, Donatello frowned. "Alright, I promise to never go outside during a harvest moon again. Can you at least tell me why?"

For a moment Raphael debated whether he should tell Donatello. It wouldn't hurt either of them but he couldn't get the sight of that olive green arm laying in a pool of blood and that bright red moon taken up the background behind it. The nightmare had just magnified how threatening that night had been and could be again. Raphael would rather die tha let Donatello go topside again when that blood red moon was out. "You're better off not knowing," he finally growled as he held Donatello closer to his side mindful not to put to much pressure on Don's arm.

Still confused, Don wished he wasn't laying on his good arm. He really could comfort his brother well without it. Finally he settled on the best course of action in his present situation and nuzzled his cheek against Raph shoulder. "I'm here if you ever want to talk about it, Raph."

There was something about that sentence and his tone of voice that nearly brought tears to Raphael's face. "I know," he said. Don was there because of him, because of his mistake and then fighting for what seemed like hours to prevent the Foot from getting him. Don was there. He would always be there. Now and forever. Or his name wasn't Raphael Hamato. With that Raphael gave a small nod of his head agreeing with his mental oath as he began to drift off to sleep holding his brother close as he too began to drift off to sleep.

What neither one of them notice was the door slowly click shut from where it had been opened a crack. Leo smiled as he stepped back away from the door as he released the handle. Raphael had never been much for words but judging how the hothead had been acting around Don he had made amends with himself and no longer blamed himself for what happened the other night. Leonardo had no doubt in his mind that Raphael would seem a little over protective of Donatello when they were both out on patrol again but if Raph wasn't protective then he would worry about him.

The sound of a door opening caught his attention and he looked down the hall in time to see a very pale and yawning Michelangelo stumble out of his room. Leo frowned as he saw his little brother. Mikey really shouldn't be up. Though it had been over a period of almost twenty four hours, the youngest had donated four pints of blood to help replace what both Don and Raph had lost. Leo didn't understand the gist of why certain brothers could only give blood to certain brothers he did know the pattern. Mikey could give blood to all of them but couldn't receive blood from any of them which made Leo worried every time he received a serious injury. Don still hadn't come up with a good way to store their blood so that it lasted more then a week. Don and Raph could share blood back and forth and could also receive it from Mikey. What really burned Leo up inside was while he could receive from all three of his brothers he couldn't give to any of them. That had made the past day exceptionally hard for the eldest as he watched Mikey push himself to the brink of exhaustion to help their ailing brothers. "Why are you up?"

Mikey paused in his stumbles and would've looked like a deer in the headlights of an oncoming car if he wasn't yawning. "I'm hungry and wanted a sundae," he mumbled in a plaintive voice as he rubbed at the back of his neck. "And you don't make sundaes right."

Probably because I don't add extra sugar to it, Leo thought to himself as he walked over to the youngest. He wasn't even going to try and figure out why Mikey was craving a sundae at almost four in the morning. It was just part of why Mikey was Mikey. "Alright, I'll take you downstairs and then you'll sit at the table and tell me what to make. I don't want you standing up anymore than you absolutely have to." He had reached Mikey and gently lifted his younger brother into his arms before proceeding to the stairs that would take them down to the kitchen.

Mikey's head rested against Leo's shoulder as he said, "Hey, Leo? Don't you dare forget the pecans."

"I won't forget the pecans, Mikey."

"Or the sprinkles."

"Or the sprinkles."

There was a moment of silence before Mikey started again. "And don't forget the walnuts. Or the whip cream. Or the chocolate sauce. Or the banana. Or the Carmel sauce. Or the Oreo bits. Or the Heath bar chunks. And put some cookie dough in there, there still some left over in the fridge I haven't baked off yet. Those chocolate covered coffee beans that Don eats are good too. Sprinkle some cinnamon on it, that's delicious. Oh and the cherry, you gotta have the cherry on top."

"Mikey," Leo's voice was filled with exasperation. "Don't push it." The youngest remained quiet until Leo had set him down in a chair at the kitchen table and even then it was only Leonardo's name in a questioning tone. "Yeah, Mikey?"

"You might want to add ice cream to that list."


End file.
